Election Results LIVE: Electoral College Map and Popular Vote Update

Be sure to follow me on Twitter at @markskogan for even more live coverage.

LIVE ELECTION RESULTS:

Barack Obama has won the 2012 presidential election.

12:35PM - As the popular vote gets close to final, it looks like President Obama will be the first President since FDR to win 50% of the popular vote.

12:00PM - My Election Takeaways are live - click on over to get more in depth insight into my big 9 lessons from election 2012:

1. IT'S STILL THE ECONOMY, STUPID

2. DEMOGRAPHICS AREN'T LOOKING GOOD FOR THE GOP

3. COMPLAINING ABOUT THE "BIAS" OF NUMBERS IS NOT A WINNING STRATEGY

4. BIG MONEY ISN'T QUITE THE TRUMP CARD IT WAS MADE OUT TO BE

5. THE POLITICS OF OBSTRUCTION IS NOT A WINNING FORMULA

6. WOMEN ARE MAKING THEIR VOICES HEARD

7. THE TIDE HAS OFFICIALLY TURNED ON THE FIGHT TO LEGALIZE GAY MARRIAGE

8.VOTING ISSUES NEED TO BE FIXED

9. THE YOUTH VOTE MATTERS

10:00AM - Some lovely tongue-in-cheek humor from the Australians.

9:40AM - In case you missed it last night, the conservative Twitter respones was pretty fantastic. The two all-stars of the night were Donald Trump and Victoria Jackson. While Trump has deleted many of his tweets, Jackson wasn't so smart.

9:25AM - Good morning PolicyMicers! What a night for Democrats. I'll be updating this live blog as the day gets under way. Currently working on a big takeaways article from last night's election. I will be sure to cross-post here.

----Nov 7, 2012----

1:59AM - Obama's acceptance speech is over and we're calling it a wrap here in PolicyMic live blog land. Thanks for following along and be sure to check back tomorrow (today?) for post-election coverage and analysis!

For now:

1:58AM - "We are more than a collection of red states and blue states. We are the UNited States."

1:56AM - Finishing on a huge message of hope, engagement, unity, and positivity moving forward. "I've never been more hopeful about our future, about America. I ask you to sustain that hope."

1:53AM - "America's never been about what can be done for us. It's about what can be done by us." -Obama

1:52AM - Very big campaign speech from Obama. Talking policy, engagement, and politics. It's a bit late for me to focus on this one but it sounds more like a campaign speech than anything.

1:48AM - Climate change plug from Obama. Hitting all the big issues with the left here and taking advantage of Sandy.

11:26PM - Stanford Professor Gary Segura reports that Latinos broke 75% for Obama. Those are some very stark demographics for the GOP.

11:22PM - Party is getting underway in Chicago. CNN strangely also showing the celebration in Kenya.

11:18PM - CNN calls it for Obama.

11:15PM - NBC and AP have called it for Obama.

11:14PM - NBC/MSNBC/FOX have called Ohio for Obama. That's all she wrote folks.

11:09PM - Iowa called for Obama. Looks like I'll be getting some sleep tonight.

11:07PM - Big winner tonight? Nate Silver.

11:05PM - CNN officially calling the Senate for Democrats. Once again, called it.

11:02PM - Twitter rumors not looking good for Romney in Florida.

11:00PM - West coast polls are closed. The big ones are called for Obama as expected. Idaho and Montano for Romney. No clear call for Oregon from CNN but it will go blue shortly (exit poll is 52-45 Obama).

10:58PM - BREAKING - Denver Post is calling Colorado for Obama.

10:55PM - Romney taking North Carolina per AP. Took much longer than expected - way tighter race than the GOP wanted.

8:26PM - CNN's David Gergen says that second round of exit polls are STRENGTHENING for Obama in Florida and Pennsylvania, calling it "a striking change."

8:20PM - Big update for the youth vote. Under 30 vote is being put at 19% of the electorate, which is UP from 2008. More bad news for Romney.

8:19PM - Big wins for Dems in the Senate. Nelson (FL) and Brown (OH) called as winners. King (I) takes Olympia Snowe's seat and is expected to caucus with Democrats. Donnelly leading Mourdock by 6 in Indiana.

8:17PM - First results coming in from MA Senate Race. With 1% in, Warren is up 4.

6:43PM - Here is PolicyMic's Chris Miles on the latest exit polls showing that the economy is the most important issue by far. 60% of voters point to the economy as the lead factor in how they decided their vote.

1. The first rule of exit polls is this: Before 5 p.m., there are no exit polls.

2. Take early exit polling results with a “giant grain of salt.”

3. Early exit polls may favor Obama more than the overall vote.

4. Keep an eye on the demographics.

5:20PM - Both Republicans and Democrats reacting positively to increased voter turnout. Republican enthusiasm may be a show though, because increased turnout is far more likely to come from cities than rural precincts, and cities aren't going to be going red.

5:15PM - Virginia State Board of Elections reports that turnout is set to be higher than 2008. Big time bad news for Romney if true. If Obama wins Virginia, it is over and it is over early.

5:10PM - Fact. If the GOP wins tonight, it will be because of this sweater. Photo courtesy of AP.

5:00PM - Two hours left.

4:50PM - Hey Mitt, you know why it's bad to write articles taking a dump on the American worker? Because unions still exist.

According to thisPolitico report, the AFL-CIO is confirming increased turnout for Obama from 2008.

By a 41-point margin, Ohio union members are voting for President Obama (70%) over Mitt Romney (29%) in the presidential race. The early vote among Ohio union members tilts even more heavily in President Obama’s favor (79% to 21%).

Obama’s support among Ohio union members has increased by five percentage points since 2008

If Obama wins Ohio, the AFL-CIO's GOTV efforts will be a big reason.

4:45PM - Arguably more important than the results of the presidential race, the Senate race will be the truly impactful results coming out tonight. With Democrats facing steep odds to retain a majority, recent blunders by Tea Party candidates has flipped sure-fire GOP wins into likely D seats. Current polls predict that the Democrats will retain a slim majority regardless of swing state outcomes. If they do, the GOP will have to take a good hard look at the Tea Party, as this will be the second Senate majority they will have cost the Republicans in as many elections.

I'll be keeping a close eye on Senate races as polls start closing. Be sure to check back here for live updates.

3:55PM - An earlier story from today - Chrysler gave its workers the day off to go vote. Considering the Chrysler CEO slammed Romney for his misleading Jeep ad, this probably isn't good news for Mitt, particularly in the auto-industry heavy states of Michigan and Ohio.

Whoever wrote that "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt" headline is probably wishing they had hit delete.

3:45PM - Somebody should tell this guy that Romney is still trying to keep his unreleased taxes on the down low.

3:06PM - Here's a quick update on the True the Vote story out of Pennsylvania. Huffington Post has a story on the ban we reported earlier - check it out here.

The reports about conservative efforts to disrupt and dissuade voters are widespread. They are almost certain to get hit with criminal investigations starting tomorrow - here's to hoping they didn't supress too many votes in the mean time.

3:00PM - No confirmation that this photo is real, but I sure hope it is.

2:30PM - Is it bad that I'm already ready to do this to my TV? And I'm not even watching Fox!

2:15PM - Who knew that climate science was a Chinese conspiracy? God, I love this guy. Donald Trump is truly that gift that keeps on giving.

1:58PM - Superstorm Sandy may be over, but the storm surrounding NJ Gov Chris Christie is still going strong. Christie now (in)famously lauded Obama's support and help post-Sandy. He was attacked by conservatives for daring to say good things about the President, to which he responded that he was just giving credit where credit was due.

Last night, reports came out that Christie had refused to be seen with Romney in the closing days of the campaign. Christie has responded, by calling the Romney campaign a bunch of "know-nothing, disgruntled" staffers.

The question now is whether the report of Christie telling the Romney campaign "no thanks" was leaked by Christie to help position himself for 2016 or by the Romney campaign to distance Mitt from Christie's praise for Obama.

1:35PM - It looks like Ds got the message on supression tactics and are responding with turnout campaigns.

Little AP reports like this one are coming in from all over indicating high voter turnout. Democrat supporting non-profits groups and unions like the AFL-CIO report that their membership voting drives are working with big numbers lining up to cast their ballot.

1:14PM - Diebold 2.0? Here's a video of a voting machine in Pennsylvania that selects Romney whenever anyone tries to select Obama. The video is going viral and has been picked up by CNN and other networks. Is this just a problem of calibration or something worse? Here's a link to the original filmer of the video, posting on reddit.

1:00PM - Reports of voter suppression issues are coming in thick, especially in Pennsylvania. A state judge in Alleghany County (Pittsburgh) issued a prohibition on partisans doing voter ID checks of their own volition.

True The Vote, a conservative campaign, is reported as checking minority voters in line and asking for their ID. The activists are not affiliated with the state and are an entirely independent, private organization. The judge issuing the ruling said that such arbitrary ID checks could "chill" voter turnout, hence the ban. Republican tactics are looking awfully shady, especially for this early in the day.

12:53PM - Reports like this are becoming more and more common as the day goes by. Are we in a for a repeat of Florida?

12:50PM - Need an easy to follow guide on what states matter tonight? Here you go, courtesy of BuzzFeed.

12:45PM - The update party has begun. I will be checking in from time to time as we get closer to poll closures with updates from voting precincts from around the country. I'll be paying special attention to voter supression complaints, particularly in PA, OH, and FL - three must-win states for Romney.

Comic relief for the day will be provided by hyperbolic Tweets, Facebook posts, and blog comments from conservatives and liberals alike as the democratic process turns in to the Apocalypse, or something. Be sure to follow me on Twitter at @markskogan for more commentary on the side.

So, without further ado, bookmark me, settle in, and let's get this party started.

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At long last, the 2012 presidential election has arrived, and I don't think I am alone in saying good riddance to this exhausting campaign. On Tuesday night, or hopefully early Wednesday morning at the latest, we will know whether Barack Obama will serve another four years in the Oval Office, or whether Mitt Romney will become the 45th president of the United States. Fueling the media circus surrounding this once-in-every-four-years event is the fact that the latest presidential polls indicate that this may be one of the closest presidential races in U.S. history. Just about every poll shows the two candidates in a statistical dead heat. On Sunday, the Real Clear Politics aggregate of polls has Obama leading Romney by 0.4%.

Mark is a lawyer and Mic contributor living in Washington, D.C.. He covers national politics, health care, legal issues, and the Supreme Court. Mark's work has been mentioned in a variety of publications, including Politico, SCOTUSBlog, The Huffington Post, No Labels, and others. His academic work focuses on speech and the First Amendment as well as Senate procedural rules, particularly the filibuster.
He holds a J.D. from the American University Washington College of Law and a B.A. from Stanford University in International Relations and Communication. Mark is originally from Moscow, Russia.